For some on both the Chiles boys and girls cross country teams, that hasn’t been the case until recently.

For top runners Michael Phillips and Ana Wallace, the results have been there from the beginning.

Following dominating district titles last week, the Timberwolves collectively turn their focus to what will be a fast Region 1-3A meet in the toughest region on Saturday at Lake City’s Oaks Equestrian Center.

And one week later, Chiles will vie for the double state championship and two individual state titles it has been chasing after all season while navigating injuries for some and a trust in training for others. Both teams were state runner-up a year ago.

“Being a senior, there’s that pressure to end with a bang,” senior Erin Phelps said. “I think that I’ll be happy with whatever place I am, I just want the team to place as high as we can. And I think we have a chance of doing that.”

Phelps missed two races to start the year while recovering from a lower leg injury. In her third meet, she ran 19:28 at the Great American Cross Country Festival, her second-fastest time ever.

Last week, she set a new personal best 18:57, topping the 26th-place run she had at last year’s state meet (19:08). Phelps finished fourth overall in District 3-3A and was the third finisher on her team as Chiles went 1-3-4-5-6-10-11-12 to dominate with just 19 points for the top five runners.

Senior Ana Wallace won by almost a minute in 17:57, while sophomore Caitlin Wilkey ran 18:56 to finish third and junior Emily Culley was fifth in 19:12.

Wilkey, who was a half second away from a PR set at Great American, has missed meets, as has freshman Lindsay James (6th, 19:27) and junior Olivia Miller (11th, 20:18).

“The hardest part is just getting back into it and mentally telling yourself ‘I can get back to where I was,’” Phelps said. “Everyone else is so far ahead and they’re making progress, but you’ve got to think you’ve been injured and there’s a reason for it.”

Additionally, freshman Brooke Waldal had a 55-second PR to finish 12th in 20:20, while senior Reagan Mahler PR’d by 23 seconds to finish 10th in 20:15.

“I think a lot of the girls are confident and have been uplifted by everyone else,” Phelps said. “I think that’s really helped the team morale throughout the season – staying positive, being humble, not being overconfident.”

Newland recently committed to run in college at Florida State. His racing has gone to a whole other level since running 9:13 in the FSU Invitational two-mile during his junior track season. Now, he’ll get to use that same track as a springboard for collegiate success.

“It’s definitely pretty cool, growing up a Seminole fan,” Newland said. “To be able to run there, compete at a D-1 level, it’s pretty exciting and a dream come true for sure.”

In addition to Phillips and Newland, junior Clay Milford saw his change in training take shape in the form of an eight-second PR (5th, 16:32), while sophomore Connor Phillips PR’d by 23 seconds (6th, 16:35), while senior Robert Nowak (7th, 16:36) was less than a second off the PR he set in last year’s state meet.

“Last week, running those times (for 3-7), the confidence is definitely a lot higher,” Michael Phillips said. “It’s pretty solid to hear everyone pumped up going into region and state. Everyone is excited to see what they can do, what times they can pop off, and if we can get back up to the top. I think everyone is pretty excited right now. If we came out on top it would just be a dream come true.”

For Chiles’ respective lead runners – Phillips and Wallace – they’ve each been attaining season goals.

Phillips hit his when he broke the 15-minute barrier at Great American, taking second in 14:58.20. It was the third-fastest 5K ever by a Tallahassee high schooler. Former Leon two-time state champion Sukhi Khosla (PR 14:52.60) did it four times in his career, while former Maclay state champ Ryan Deak ( PR 14:58.57) and former Leon three-time state champion Matt Mizereck (PR 14:51) did it twice.

Chiles’ boys won a state championship in 2014, and Phillips transferred in from out of state as a sophomore. The Timberwolves now have back-to-back state runner-ups and Phillips has a state title from last year.

The goal is to win it all and watch the girls do the same.

“I’m just using (Great American) as a confidence boost to go into the state meet with confidence, then Foot Locker,” Phillips said. “It was a huge confidence thing.”

Wallace, too, has seen her confidence skyrocket this year. She broke the 18-minute barrier early in the year – one of four girl runners in Florida to do so this season – and then she ran 17:26.50 at Great American to take second.

It was the fastest 5K time ever run by a Tallahassee high schooler, surpassing the 17:29.05 run by former Chiles great Lily Williams, who was a three-time state runner-up.

“It’s really weird to think about,” Wallace said. “Going into the season, I never would have expected to run that time. It was all very surprising. There’s definitely still work to be done. I want to finish things off with a good performance at state and with the team. I want to see what I can run again for the times.”

Behind better training that has seen an increase in mileage, as well as better mental preparation on race day, Wallace has been breaking all sorts of barriers.

Now the task will be to finish the job. As a freshman, she was on a fifth-place state team. As a sophomore, she was part of a young 3-7 group that paired with seniors Emma Tucker and her senior sister Alexandra Wallace to win a state championship. Last year’s injuries amounted to a state runner-up.

But with one more state title, the run of state championships has this Timberwolves team measuring up to the three consecutive won from 2008-10 by a slew of future collegiate runners, including Carly Thomas (FSU), Williams (Vanderbilt), Jodi McGuff (Mississippi State) and Rachel Givens (Auburn).

Thomas won an individual state title in 2009 as well. Wallace, who is being recruited by FSU now along with others, has a chance to do the same.

“It’s crazy to think about that we’re kind of up to the level of the team that we looked up to with Lily, Carly and Jodi, all them,” Wallace said. “That’s been our idol team. It’s just a great group we’ve got right now. I just want to end it right and leave that legacy.”

Buy Photo

The Chiles girls cross country team captured state runner-up during Saturday&rsquo;s FHSAA State Cross Country Championship at Apalachee Regional Park.(Photo: Brian Miller/Democrat)

District 3-3A girls

TEAM RESULTS

Chiles, 19

Leon, 66

Lincoln, 82

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS - TOP 15

Ana Wallace, Sr., Chiles, 17:57.80

Alivia Davis, Sr., Stanton Prep, 18:51.50

Caitlin Wilkey, So., Chiles, 18:56.10

Erin Phelps, Sr., Chiles, 18:57.20

Emily Culley, Jr., Chiles, 19:12.90

Lindsay James, Fr., Chiles, 19:27.30

Bridget Morse, Sr., Columbia, 19:41.00

Elizabeth Calabro, So., Leon, 19:46.00

Katherine Resavage, Jr., Leon, 19:59.20

Reagan Mahler, Sr., Chiles, 20:15.20

Olivia Miller, Jr., Chiles, 20:18.90

Brooke Waldal, Fr., Chiles, 20:22.10

Chase Merrick, So., Lincoln, 20:23.60

Megan Churchill, So., Lincoln, 20:24.30

Avery Calabro, Fr., Leon, 20:35.40

BOYS TEAM RESULTS

Chiles, 21

Stanton Prep, 79

Leon, 83

Lincoln, 91

BOYS INDIVIDUAL RESULTS - TOP 15

Michael Phillips, Sr., Chiles, 16:06.70

Matthew Newland, Sr., Chiles, 16:13.30

Sebastian Kenne, Jr., Stanton Prep, 16:28.00

Yassin Raffay, Sr., Columbia, 16:32.40

Clay Milford, Jr., Chiles, 16:32.50

Connor Phillips, Jr., Chiles, 16:35.00

Robert Nowak, Sr., Chiles, 16:36.20

Clayton Carlson, Sr., Lincoln, 16:47.10

Sam Skiles, Sr., Stanton Prep 16:47.40

Burch Greene, Jr., Columbia, 16:50.60

Joseph Ashebo, So., Leon, 16:56.80

Noah Grzywacz, Sr., Chiles, 17:00.80

Kevin Majano, So., Lincoln 17:10.90

Hawthorne Hay, So., Chiles, 17:30.90

Nile Bryant, So., Leon 17:39.00

Buy Photo

Chiles’ Robert Nowak sprints to the finish of the FHSAA Class 3A state championship meet last November. The Timberwolves’ boys team finished runner-up and is looking to better that mark this season.(Photo: Democrat files)